One Shot: The Truth Hurts
Jan. 17th, 2007 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13Title: The Truth Hurts
Author: Mara
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, somewaht graphic imagery
Summary: Things went differently in Oliver's Penthouse...
Notes: I'm feeling angsty, and I know there's a million and one AUs based on 'The Truth' out there (I've even written one before) but... here's another one... the italics are Sandy remembering what Ryan said...
Sandy sat alone in the waiting room, staring blankly at the doors that led towards the operating room. The room were Ryan currently lay while doctors worked on him.
"Oliver, put down the gun, man."
It was Sandy's fault that Ryan was fighting for his life. Once he heard Marissa yelling that Oliver had a gun, he should have made sure Ryan never entered the penthouse. Instead he let a 15 year-old boy step into a room where there was a gun. He let a 15 year-old child try to negotiate with the boy holding the gun. He let his 15 year-old son get shot.
"If you do this, it's not going to hurt me. It's going to hurt Marissa, the one person who cares about you."
Sandy pushed himself up out of the hard plastic chair to pace. In that moment when he hadn't held Ryan back, in that one stupid decision, he might have killed his son. Kirsten and Seth would never forgive him, he'd never forgive himself, if Ryan didn't make it. Or, maybe worse, if Ryan survived but the damage was permanant so the boy wasn't himself anymore.
"I know what it's like to be abandoned by your parents. To have no one believe in you."
It had looked like Oliver was going to give up, was going to put down the gun. Then he'd lifted it again and pointed it right at Ryan. The funny thing was, Ryan didn't look scared in those last few seconds. He looked ready. Like he'd been waiting for this to happen his whole life and it was just finally time.
"Oliver..."
The last time Ryan had said the other boy's name had been right before the shot rang out and Ryan's head snapped backwards from the impact of the bullet. No one moved for a few agonizing seconds, then Marissa began to scream, a long wail that suddenly cut off when she passed out after the security guards shot Oliver and his blood splashed on her, plunging the scene into an awful silence.
"Sandy?"
Ryan's voice had sounded small, fightened, when he had called out, and not even the steady grip of one of the guards could keep Sandy from getting to his son's side and trying to stop the flow of blood from the gaping wound.
"Sandy?"
There was something in Ryan's eyes when Sandy got to his side, something in the boy's voice, that send a chill down Sandy's spine. Ryan was breathing, but he was already fading away. He didn't seem able to comprehend what was happening, just saying it again and again like he just couldn't get a grip on any of it.
"Sandy?"
The elevator chimed and Sandy looked over as Kirsten and Seth caught sight of him and came close. He simply shrugged and looked back towards the doors that would bring news. He had nothing to tell his wife and other son that he hadn't told them on the phone. Ryan was in surgery, possibly dying, because they hadn't believed him.
"Sandy?"
Who was he kidding? Sandy knew the truth already, had known when the paramedics were moving Ryan out of the penthouse and he had caught a glimpse of the blood splatter on the wall behind where Ryan had been standing. The Ryan they had known and loved was gone the moment the bullet slammed into his head. The moment it tore through his brain and left pieces of the grey matter on the wall, mixed in with the blood and bits of bone.
"Sandy?"
The doors swung open and a bed was pushed out by nurses, Ryan's pale form laying on it with tubes running out of him. The three doctors exchanging grim glances with eachother before heading towards the Cohen family, and it only confirmed what Sandy knew. He had killed his son, all because he hadn't believed in him. All because none of them had believed in him.
"Sandy?"
The End
Yeah, that's kinda ambiguous, huh? Ryan's technically alive, but the doctors are girm which can't be good... don't know why I'm in a dark mood, I just am... I see the repeating of 'Sandy?' as being both that Ryan repeated it over and over, like he was looking to Sandy for an answer, and that it's echoing in Sandy's head, a reminder that he wasn't able to GIVE Ryan an answer... eh... make of it what you will...
Author: Mara
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, somewaht graphic imagery
Summary: Things went differently in Oliver's Penthouse...
Notes: I'm feeling angsty, and I know there's a million and one AUs based on 'The Truth' out there (I've even written one before) but... here's another one... the italics are Sandy remembering what Ryan said...
Sandy sat alone in the waiting room, staring blankly at the doors that led towards the operating room. The room were Ryan currently lay while doctors worked on him.
"Oliver, put down the gun, man."
It was Sandy's fault that Ryan was fighting for his life. Once he heard Marissa yelling that Oliver had a gun, he should have made sure Ryan never entered the penthouse. Instead he let a 15 year-old boy step into a room where there was a gun. He let a 15 year-old child try to negotiate with the boy holding the gun. He let his 15 year-old son get shot.
"If you do this, it's not going to hurt me. It's going to hurt Marissa, the one person who cares about you."
Sandy pushed himself up out of the hard plastic chair to pace. In that moment when he hadn't held Ryan back, in that one stupid decision, he might have killed his son. Kirsten and Seth would never forgive him, he'd never forgive himself, if Ryan didn't make it. Or, maybe worse, if Ryan survived but the damage was permanant so the boy wasn't himself anymore.
"I know what it's like to be abandoned by your parents. To have no one believe in you."
It had looked like Oliver was going to give up, was going to put down the gun. Then he'd lifted it again and pointed it right at Ryan. The funny thing was, Ryan didn't look scared in those last few seconds. He looked ready. Like he'd been waiting for this to happen his whole life and it was just finally time.
"Oliver..."
The last time Ryan had said the other boy's name had been right before the shot rang out and Ryan's head snapped backwards from the impact of the bullet. No one moved for a few agonizing seconds, then Marissa began to scream, a long wail that suddenly cut off when she passed out after the security guards shot Oliver and his blood splashed on her, plunging the scene into an awful silence.
"Sandy?"
Ryan's voice had sounded small, fightened, when he had called out, and not even the steady grip of one of the guards could keep Sandy from getting to his son's side and trying to stop the flow of blood from the gaping wound.
"Sandy?"
There was something in Ryan's eyes when Sandy got to his side, something in the boy's voice, that send a chill down Sandy's spine. Ryan was breathing, but he was already fading away. He didn't seem able to comprehend what was happening, just saying it again and again like he just couldn't get a grip on any of it.
"Sandy?"
The elevator chimed and Sandy looked over as Kirsten and Seth caught sight of him and came close. He simply shrugged and looked back towards the doors that would bring news. He had nothing to tell his wife and other son that he hadn't told them on the phone. Ryan was in surgery, possibly dying, because they hadn't believed him.
"Sandy?"
Who was he kidding? Sandy knew the truth already, had known when the paramedics were moving Ryan out of the penthouse and he had caught a glimpse of the blood splatter on the wall behind where Ryan had been standing. The Ryan they had known and loved was gone the moment the bullet slammed into his head. The moment it tore through his brain and left pieces of the grey matter on the wall, mixed in with the blood and bits of bone.
"Sandy?"
The doors swung open and a bed was pushed out by nurses, Ryan's pale form laying on it with tubes running out of him. The three doctors exchanging grim glances with eachother before heading towards the Cohen family, and it only confirmed what Sandy knew. He had killed his son, all because he hadn't believed in him. All because none of them had believed in him.
"Sandy?"
The End
Yeah, that's kinda ambiguous, huh? Ryan's technically alive, but the doctors are girm which can't be good... don't know why I'm in a dark mood, I just am... I see the repeating of 'Sandy?' as being both that Ryan repeated it over and over, like he was looking to Sandy for an answer, and that it's echoing in Sandy's head, a reminder that he wasn't able to GIVE Ryan an answer... eh... make of it what you will...
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-18 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-18 08:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-18 10:17 am (UTC)But i want a bit more of the pov of everyone else, starting with Marissa (someone i don't think your a fan), Seth, Kirsten
no subject
Date: 2007-01-18 07:32 pm (UTC)Very well done.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-18 08:58 pm (UTC)This is a story I've always wanted to see explored in depth. It's one of those times where, in canon, the Cohens were miraculously lucky. They should have been assessing their actions and considering what could have been. You give us one very plausible scenario. There would be overwhelming guilt- rightly so. Lives- especially Ryan's- would be altered and destroyed. Just hearing him trying to connect with Sandy for affirmation that he was there and trying to determine what was happening was heartbreaking- and would certainly haunt Sandy to his dying day.
As dark and distressing as this is, I wish you'd continue it. There's so much to be mined here and new dynamics to create, bonds to build and relationships to carve out with an entirely different perspective, perceptions, expectations and foundation.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-18 09:31 pm (UTC)Though this was intended as a one shot, I may write a follow-up or two... or many... I could explore the various reactions... how it affects Sandy and Kirsten's marriage... how Seth reacts to having let his best friend down so much... even ::shudder:: maybe "M"s reaction to what her stupidity has caused... the hospital staff and their take on the Cohens and Ryan... there is a lot to explore in this reality... dang... as though I didn't have enough stories in progress... lol
no subject
Date: 2007-01-18 09:41 pm (UTC)There were so many aspects that needed to be addressed, and instead it became ALL ABOUT "M" and that a boy's life was endangered while his "guardian" did nothing to safeguard him- on top of doubting him and even expressing possible regret at having him in his life- was completely ignored. We should have known then just how incapable the writers were of seeing the obvious and addressing what no one should possibly ignore.
There are a zillion resulting stories from this possible scenario. That doesn't mean you have to rush into anything, but so many are intriguing since there's no denying that it would force those responsible to take long, hard looks at themselves and their actions. Ryan was everyone's sacrifical lamb and no one cared enough, botton line, to stop, listen, pay attention and try to learn. Assumptions were made based on convenience, as was often the case when it came to Ryan.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-23 03:57 am (UTC)